Eleven Ponds That Recycle Their Own Sea: A Takua Pa Shrimp Farm Becomes One of Thailand's First Under the New ASC Standard

At dawn in Khuekkhak, just inland from the Khao Lak beaches, paddle-wheel aerators spin a fine silver spray across eleven still ponds. The mist settles, the water clears, and somewhere below the surface, thousands of whiteleg shrimp go on with their morning. On 24 September 2026, the people who tend these ponds received news that quietly made national trade headlines: I'm Shrimp Farm 5 had become one of the first farms in Thailand certified to the brand-new ASC Farm Standard, one of the world's strictest benchmarks for responsible aquaculture [ref:1].

A farm that answers to its water

The numbers behind the certificate are worth pausing over. The farm covers about 200.2 rai — roughly 32 hectares — of which 11 grow-out ponds occupy 69.1 rai, or about 11 hectares. At full production it plans to raise around 700 to 900 metric tonnes of Pacific whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) a year [ref:1]. That is serious tonnage of food, and it all depends on one thing the team refuses to waste: water.

Farm 5 runs a closed, recirculating water-management system. Reservoir and treatment ponds clean the water, and treated water is reused within the farm rather than simply flushed away — an approach that makes the farm one of the coast's most careful water managers, alongside an energy-reduction plan built around managed pond aeration [ref:2]. In a province whose mangrove channels and turtle-nesting beaches depend on clean coastal water, that circular habit is not a technical footnote. It is neighbourly behaviour at industrial scale.

“The certificate is not the day the work finishes”

The most refreshing part of this story is how the farm itself talks about it. Pornthep Limtrakoon, sales manager of INTEQC Global, the company operating the farm, put it plainly: what matters most is not being first, but “what we learned, what we had to question and what we improved along the way” [ref:1].

In practice, that meant turning good habits into good records. Water quality, shrimp behaviour, feed and farm inputs were already monitored daily; certification pushed the team to document who checks what, when, where it is recorded, and what happens when a reading drifts — an early-warning habit that protects shrimp health and biosecurity before small issues grow [ref:1]. As Limtrakoon says, good records are not only for an auditor; they help manage the farm better.

Room made without clearing a forest

The ASC Farm Standard looks beyond the pond walls: environmental and social impacts, animal health and welfare, traceability, and management systems all count [ref:1]. To expand, Farm 5 chose to lease ponds another farmer had already built, rather than clear natural land for new ones. And as part of the assessment, the farm opened direct channels with its surrounding community — talking through wastewater and sludge management, environmental policies, and how neighbours can raise complaints or suggestions [ref:1].

Koji Yamamoto, ASC's South-East Asia Producer Engagement Lead, called the milestone significant for the whole Thai shrimp sector, hoping it encourages other producers to see certification as a tool for continuous improvement rather than a market checkbox [ref:1]. Thailand has farmed shrimp for generations; what is new is a Takua Pa team showing the region what the newest global standard looks like in everyday practice [ref:3].

The Andaman lesson in a bowl of shrimp

For locals and visitors alike, the takeaway is a happy one: the seafood legacy of this coast is being renewed from the inside. The next time a plate of plump whiteleg shrimp arrives at a Khao Lak table, there is a fair chance its story began in ponds that recycle their own water, keep careful notes, and listen to their neighbours. That is a souvenir-quality tale you can actually taste.